‘Anger’ spurred Gerard Deulofeu goals against Wolves, says Watford boss Javi Gracia

WEMBLEY STADIUM, LONDON — An “angry” Gerard Deulofeu came from the bench to score twice in a 50-minute cameo to turn Watford’s FA Cup semi-final against Wolverhampton Wanderers on its head and secure a place in the final.

The Spaniard was not introduced until the 66th minute, with Watford two down and seemingly out of the competition, but he scored an utterly sublime first and, after captain Troy Deeney scored a stoppage-time penalty, sealed the win in extra time, before coming off injured.

Deulofeu, that is audacious! A goal out of nothing!

Pure inspiration from the Watford winger. pic.twitter.com/e4BZS0TpmM

— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 7, 2019

“At that moment he was angry, when he started to play,” manager Javi Gracia said of the way Deulofeu chipped the ball over Wolves goalkeeper John Ruddy from out of nowhere. “I like to see my players this way, with that attitude. They feel angry in this moment to show what they are able to do. He helped the team, scoring two important goals. The first one with high quality – but it’s not a surprise, I see him in all the training sessions.”

Selection headache

Gracia admitted he had a difficult job deciding who to start up front in such a momentous match, opting instead for Deeney and Andre Gray. But he had not expected to be two goals down – from Wolves’ Matt Doherty and Raul Jimenez – by the time Deulofeu was brought on.

“We knew before the game, when we started with other players, Gerard would be important in the game,” Gracia added. “What I didn’t know was when he started to play we would be losing 2-0. But in other games we started with Troy and Gerard and Andre came from the bench to score important goals for the team.

“All the players deserve to play. It’s not easy for me to choose the moments for each of them, but I try to.”

Deeney said: “I’ve said on many occasions that this team has something special. We’re not the most talented, we’re not all that, but the hard work and desire at 2-0 down – many teams would have called it a day, but we kept fighting and brought the little man on, who produced a bit of magic.

“Manchester City are a formidable team, probably the best team in Europe, but it’s a one-off game and we need to come in with belief and know that this hard work can get us a long way.”